You would think that the number of road fatalities worldwide is decreasing, right?

13/03/2013

Global Road Safety

You would think that the number of road fatalities worldwide is decreasing, right? After all, vehicles are getting safer, and so are roads. Unfortunately, on a global scale, reality is somewhat different. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), while road traffic death rates in many high-income countries have stabilized or declined in recent decades, data suggest that in most other regions of the world the global epidemic of traffic injuries is still increasing; usually because the number of vehicles in those countries is growing faster than the necessary counterbalancing improvements in infrastructures and road safety measures. In fact, the WHO estimates that in 2030 road traffic injuries will be the 5th cause of death, leaving behind other causes such as lung, liver or colon cancer, diabetes, hypertensive heart disease and many other serious “contenders”. This is a very serious problem we all must address, as drivers, as pedestrians and as stakeholders. That is why Frotcom International fully supported the joint Road Safety Initiative of Frotcom East Africa, Airtel and 2NK Sacco, in Kenya (see post from February 27th, 2013). Kenya has been paying a staggering high toll on road carnage. This initiative will not solve the problem on its own, of course: the decrease on road deaths requires many joint efforts. However, this initiative is a great push in the right direction, using state of the art technology to detect and correct aggressive driving. In the end, if Frotcom can help reducing just a little the number of people who die each year on the road – 1.2 million – our commitment will be definitely worth. Valério Marques, CEO - Frotcom International